Things are nice and tidy when English and Chinese march hand in hand, offering an equivalent word for everything the other throws out. But that can’t always be the case. In the not-so-rare times when there’s simply no translation or the entire paradigm is different, we actually get a peek into how the brains of…
You can’t talk about Ahab without talking about Elijah. You can’t talk about Elijah without talking about Elisha. So let’s talk about them. It is equally tricky to distinguish the pronunciation and spelling of their names in Chinese and in English. In case you haven’t heard enough about them yet:Elijah [ee-LAHY-jah] 以利亞 {yi3-li4-ya3}Elisha [ee-LAHY-shah] 以利沙 {yi3-li4-sha1} Note: If…
From the good old kings of Israel and Judah to emperors of superpowers, we’ve covered a lot of kings here. That leaves an area of glaring neglect, how about the overwhelming number of evil ones? Those evil kings of Israel and Judah shared some common traits and faults, among which God’s primary concern was idolatry of…
“Far be it from me to eat another pizza.” “Woe to me for I’m late for church.” “Truly I tell you there’s no better coffee than this.” “May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I binge-watch a show until 5 AM again.” I’m guessing you don’t talk to your friends, or anyone for that…
10 minas, 100 talents, 1000 shekels. When these quantities show up in our Bible reading, we typically don’t pay a second thought and simply glance over onto the “juicy bits”. Okay, maybe you have more curiosity than me, but it took me 20 years to start caring about what these numbers actually meant in terms…
Every once in a while, we may hear a Chinese prayer that says something along the lines of “孩子禱告” or “孩子在袮面前” which can confuse some people. Who are these 孩子? Whose 孩子 are they? On that note, is that how you write “孩”? (Sorry, happens when I stare at something for too long.) TL;DR, “孩子” means “I”, and “孩子們”…
Judges 士師記 {shi4-shi1-ji4}Old Testament – Historical Books Egyptians had pharaohs, Babylonians had kings, the United States has presidents, and Canada its prime ministers. For a period of turmoil in Israel’s history, the people had none of those. Instead, Judges ruled their lands. It’s natural to wonder why they were called Judges in the first place, why Judges led…
The Gospel Books in the New Testament have no shortage of Jesus’s teachings. To all Christ’s followers, they are the treasure troves of knowledge and guidance on how to be more like Him. Among them, certain sayings stand out like bundles of powerful and succinct sermons. Beatitudes [bee-A-ti-tyoodz] 天國八福 {tian1-guo2-ba1-fu2} from Matthew 5:3-12 is one of them. The Chinese name makes…
哥林多前/後書New Testament – Epistles 1 and 2 Corinthians [kuh-RIN-thee-uhnz] were Paul’s two letters addressed to the church in the city of Corinth [KO-rinth]. Apostle Paul first visited Corinth on his way to preach the Gospel to Macedonia. During his visit, God advised him to lengthen his stay in Corinth, so Paul spent a year and a half…
If sermon interpretation was all about interpretation, our job would be much simpler, and this training would have been much shorter. Thankfully, it’s not, which is precisely why it’s much more interesting, rewarding, and exhilarating as we endeavor to master this craft. A significant component of our interpretation hinges on our knowledge of the Bible….